Measurement of the differential cross section and charge asymmetry for inclusive pp to W + X production at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of the differential cross section and charge asymmetry for inclusive W boson production in proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV, providing data to refine proton structure models.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed measurement of W production charge asymmetry as a function of muon pseudorapidity at 8 TeV with CMS data.

Findings

Charge asymmetry varies with muon pseudorapidity.

Results constrain parton distribution functions of the proton.

Data agrees with Standard Model predictions.

Abstract

The differential cross section and charge asymmetry for inclusive pp to W + X to mu + neutrino + X production at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are measured as a function of muon pseudorapidity. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 18.8 inverse femtobarns recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. These results provide important constraints on the parton distribution functions of the proton in the range of the Bjorken scaling variable x from 10E-3 to 10E-1.